Posted on 01/12/2011 6:04:17 AM PST by SeekAndFind
(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve's journey to the outer limits of monetary policy is raising concerns about how hard it will be to withdraw trillions of dollars in stimulus from the banking system when the time is right.
While that day seems distant now, some economists and market analysts have even begun pondering the unthinkable: could the vaunted Fed, the world's most powerful central bank, become insolvent?
Almost by definition, the answer is no.
As the monetary authority, the central bank is the master of the printing press. It can literally conjure up money at will, and arguably did exactly that when it bought about $2 trillion of mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasuries to push down borrowing costs and boost the economy.
The Fed's unorthodox steps helped it generate record profits in 2010, allowing it to send $78.4 billion to the U.S. Treasury Department. But its swollen balance sheet leaves the central bank unusually exposed to possible credit losses that could create a major headache at a time of increasing political encroachment on the Fed's independence.
Asked about the issue of potential losses during congressional testimony on Friday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested the risks were minimal. If liabilities on the Fed's balance sheet were to exceed its assets, it would only be so because of rising interest rates in the context of a thriving economy, he suggested.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
WEE FREE MONEY FOR EVERYONE THEN?
No if the Fed goes broke taxpayers bail them out.
Oh, You Mean The Fed CAN Go Broke?
Hmmmm..... on Kudlow last night....
This is definitely worth a listen.... and you won’t believe who’s pointing it out - on air - either.
Continue
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=177102
Indeed, according to laws and accounting principles applied to non-government entities.
Like I said. If you owe US taxes on foreign earned income, and pay those taxes, you have nothing to worry about, and you place any attempted unconstitutional seizure under the fair jurisdiction of a foreign court in which the IRS must bring action.And since the IRS is a foreighn entity, you can request the IRS to deposit security for court costs to the court, so that your legal fees can be paid if the IRS loses the action.
Thats a lot of protection we do not have here at home, and it is protection which is due process protection, and it is worth it IMHO.
Anyone has the ability to do this as a matter of right. You just have to get the advice on how to do it properly.There is nothing illegal about it.
Could have been worse. Could have phoned Barak Obama..................
It not only can, it will. When it will I can’t say, but, I know that it/they can’t print worthless paper forever.
-—it would only be so because of rising interest rates in the context of a thriving economy-—
So, in the absence of a ‘thriving U.S.economy’, there’s no other reason US interest rates can tick up, or even surge?
C’mon, Ben.
No, the Fed is not the source of much of our problems. Congress is the source of the debt. And Congress can borrow regardless of what monetary system we have.
The Fed has done a remarkable job. They have kept the dollar more stable than when it was gold backed.
Failure to plan since the 70's for the next oil price shock, Failure to protect consumers from credit card rate shock, and unwise trade policies are the source of our economic problems.
And no, I didn't mention mortgages as a cause, because mortgages always take a hit in an economic downturn. They didn't cause the economic downturn. They were just the canary in the mine.
No, the Fed is not the source of much of our problems. Congress is the source of the debt. And Congress can borrow regardless of what monetary system we have.
The Fed has done a remarkable job. They have kept the dollar more stable than when it was gold backed.
Failure to plan since the 70's for the next oil price shock, Failure to protect consumers from credit card rate shock, and unwise trade policies are the source of our economic problems.
And no, I didn't mention mortgages as a cause, because mortgages always take a hit in an economic downturn. They didn't cause the economic downturn. They were just the canary in the mine.
Playing Monopoly with . . . uhhhh . . . gay . . . abandon
just before the Apocalypse . . .
You approve of their handiwork?
Yes I do. What is needed for the economy is short term stability, not long term store of value. The dollar under the Federal reserve has been significantly more stable year to year, than the gold backed dollar that had year to year swings of up to 25%.
It's better to have a small amount of inflation each year as it discourages hoarding capital in the form of currency, and encourages capital reinvestment in the economy.
The combined compounded effect of inflation over 100 years is only relevant, if you intended to hide currency in your walls or mattress for 100 years. If you want to hoard wealth and not invest it, then metals serve you much better. But there is nothing stopping you from buying metals.
But if you invested $10,000 in 1960 in 10 year t-bills and reinvested, it would be worth $340,000 today. That same 10,000 invested in gold would be worth $390,000 at todays speculative prices, however as recently as 2004 that gold would have only been worth $105,000. Much riskier than the t-bills.
” Anyone with any foresight has moved their estate OFF SHORE. “
I did that in November & December of 08 ;-)
Me too, November 2007.
That would explain why they’re so deadset against an audit.
There is that, alright.
Unless they decide to label the indebted another group of
‘useless eaters’
and slate them accordingly for earlier ‘vacations’ to the death camps.
>>”The Fed was established to keep the dollar stable. The dollar of 1913 is worth 3 cents today. You approve of their handiwork?”
>
>But if you invested $10,000 in 1960 in 10 year t-bills and reinvested, it would be worth $340,000 today.
If Clear_Case_Guy’s position is correct that a 1930 dollar is worth only three cents now, then that $340,000 today that you are mentioning is only $10,200 [1930 dollars].
$340,000*(.03) = $10,200
That means with all that interest you made EXACTLY 2% profit.
Yay, great investment![/sarc]
It’s slightly off because you said a 1960 Dollar reinvested via T-Bills; the principal, however, remains.
In fact we can correct for that disparity.
10,000 -> 340,000 is obtained via a multiplicand of: 34.
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ gives a 78% inflation from 1930 to 1960.
http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ gives a 77.2% inflation in the same period.
For simplicity let’s use the 78.
$10,000 [1960] is about $5618 [1930].
So then, we have $5,618 invested yielding $10,200. [both are now in 1930 dollars.]
So you really made a profit of %82... but this is over 50 years.
“Historically, the United States has fixed the price of gold. The price of an ounce of gold was fixed at $20.67 for many decades until 1934 [...]”
— http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-historical-price-of-gold.htm
So, if we take $21 in 1930 and bought a single ounce of gold; today that same ounce would be over a thousand dollars. ($21 -> $1000 => aprox. 4761%)
$21 in 1930 is $275.14 in 2010, according to usinflationcalculator. ($21 -> $275 => aprox. 1309%)
Now if we divide gold’s % by inflation’s % we get about 364%.
Would you say that the inverse ( 1/3.64 or .275 ) is a good rate?
Note that it’s not 1.275, which means for every dollar you put in you get a total of 28 cents.
That’s comparing a gold-backed “what-if” dollar to the actual Fed-based dollar.
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